No playoff experience on Heeter's professional resume

The Flyers’ Cal Heeter looks to cover up the ice during his NHL debut April 13, a 6-5 shootout loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. Heeter will be Ray Emery’s backup Thursday when the Flyers face the Rangers in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

VOORHEES, N.J. — With Steve Mason out and Ray Emery starting for the Flyers Thursday in their Stanley Cup playoff opener against the Rangers in New York, Cal Heeter becomes their backup goaltender.

His postseason professional experience at any level — the NHL, the minors, a bootleg league?

“None,” Heeter said Wednesday, doing that quick calculation after practice at the Skate Zone. “We were not in the playoffs the last two seasons.”

Heeter, 25, joined the Flyers’ system as an undrafted goalie from Ohio State. He played the last two seasons with the Phantoms, dressing for the Flyers in emergency situations this season, but not used until last Sunday.

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In his NHL debut, he started slowly but played strong toward the end before losing, 6-5, in a shootout to the Carolina Hurricanes.

Thursday, he will be one misfortune away from trying to help the Flyers win a game of any kind in Madison Square Garden for the first time since 2011.

“I played some playoff games in college,” Heeter said. “But this will be my first professional playoffs. I am so excited. It is going to be a great experience. Any postseason experience is great, but certainly it will be up here with the big club. Just practicing with the guys and being on the bench or in the stands or whatever, it’s going to be a great experience and you can take a lot away from it.”

Heeter was 16-25-2 for the Phantoms this season, with a 2.95 goals-against average.

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Predictably, the consensus in the Flyers’ room Wednesday was that they will be fine, even without Mason in goal.

Not even a slight worry?

“Not at all,” Vinny Lecavalier said. “If you ask any guy in here, we have confidence in both goalies.”

If anything, the Flyers seemed relieved to have a veteran like Emery ready for the emergency.

“Ray has played some big games for us this year,” Claude Giroux said. “He has some experience in the playoffs. He has won a Cup. For him to bring that experience is good. It doesn’t matter to us. We have a lot of confidence in both. They are both players who play hard and play for the team, and it’s fun to have two goalies like that.”

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The Flyers have not won in Madison Square Garden since 2011.

Evidently, they will not stop hearing about it until they do.

The plan?

“When it comes to the game, we have to play smart,” Kimmo Timonen said. “When I say, ‘playing smart,’ it’s about not turning the puck over and not taking stupid penalties. But it is going to be a tight match. It’s a tight matchup and we’re looking forward to it.”